Infighting

Court case docket #1: Eyes and mouth v. Stomach, digestive system, et al.
Yesterday, the idea of "moderation is key" was put in perspective. I knew I could have gone for more, but Sickday wisely held me back on a visit to White Castle. My body thanks the responsible parties for restraint.
I watched the last part of the Beatles Anthology last night...no one will ever be as big. I hope bands like Coldplay and Maroon5 can take that into account. No matter how big they'll ever get, if they're lucky, their entire careers might just about equal to 6 months output of the Beatles. If Coldplay breaks up now, do you think anyone is going to ask Chris Martin in ten years when Coldplay is getting back together? I doubt it.

The air (cough,cough) we breath

Congress is set to pass an energy bill.
I'm kind of pissed off that my tax money is going to be spent on making rich companies richer. Oil companies have been swimming in money and record profits as the price of gas has gone up(that's another post). Yet, the gov't is throwing 14.5 billion at them as tax breaks, and possibly billions more in loan gaurantees and subsidies.
However, it could be worse:

Lawmakers avoided a certain fight in the Senate by leaving out one of Bush's top energy goals: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. House Republicans promised to pursue that issue separately this fall.

House Republicans also abandoned a provision that would have given the makers of the gasoline additive MTBE protection against lawsuits stemming from the chemical's contamination of drinking water supplies in at least 36 states.

Both the Arctic refuge drilling and the MTBE liability shield were almost certain to have prompted a filibuster in the Senate, dooming the bill, as was the case two years ago. Congress last passed a broad energy bill in 1992. For the past six years it tried to pass another one, coming close at times, but never got the job done.

People are also getting tax credits for purchasing hybrid cars and for making homes more energy efficient. That's a good thing.

Nice coat. Where'd ya get it?

By the time John Lennon was 30, he had worn and discarded jackets and threw away lyric sheets that are now worth 1.2 million bucks. Not bad, eh?
Lennon lyric sheet sells for $1 million
Also, in unrelated Lennon news:
'Lennon' Delays Broadway Opening for Changes and New Song
You all know there's gonna be a "lennon" musical, right? Apparently, there having some problems. Could it be that the ghost of John Lennon's dignity might be causing a little mayhem on the set? Every good production needs a good ghost.
Even more unrelated: I saw a Wham video yesterday on Vh1: "Wake me up before you go-go." I actually cringed in pain. I shit you not. One can sum up all that was bad in the 80s in that one video. Even now the memory is painful.
This isn't anywhere close to being related: XPN was very successful last year with its countdown of the 885 best songs ever. They're doing it now for albums. At some point or other, they'll start the voting, so it's time to get out the pens and paper and try to figure out your top ten albums. This is going to be hard...
I'll try to put mine up in the next few days.

Eurotrip

I exchanged DVDs with B., a new person at work. I let her borrow "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle," and I got "Eurotrip."
I dug it! I may have to buy it for myself.
Thanks for the tip, B. Hope you like Harold and Kumar...

Are clouds supposed to do that?

The Gods are conjuring up a storm of mythic proportions. Stay tuned...
UPDATE: Ok, maybe it wasn't that mythic. I suppose the Gods have other things to work on. However, I'm beginning to suspect their motivation and level of attention. Could it be that their hearts are no longer in it? Or maybe they have ADD? One will never know.

Beyond the thunderdome

U.S. to announce 'Beyond Kyoto' climate pact.
You just gotta love the first line: "The United States, the world's top polluter..." At least we're the tops in something.

It's too dark to see what you're stepping in to

It seems as though the infrastructure of the city of Baghdad is a heaping mess. Also, while Baghdad had 24hrs of electricity under saddam's rule, other parts of the country, like Basra, had five. That's odd. They couldn't even produce enough electricity to keep their country alight, yet we suspected them of having "stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction"? While it's easy to blame this administration for the mess we've gotted ourselves into over there, I'm starting to beleive that the people who bought their story hook, line and sinker, without really thinking about it, have some culpability too.
Despite $2 billion spent, residents say Baghdad is crumbling

Four walls and a roof

I drove home from work the other day, and when I got to my town, I noticed a little For Sale By Owner sign pointing into an older neighborhood. I followed the signs to a small ranch home on maybe a half an acre. There was a tube that held info sheets on the house, so for shits and giggle, I grabbed.
The place had 3 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 bathrooms. What do you think the going rate for a small ranch house would be? Maybe a 100grand? But this is Jersey, silly! Let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say 300grand.
Nope. 589grand. Or best offer.
If this is the going rate for a small house, then I'm screwed, doomed to live in rectangular-segmented dwellings forever.
That's Jersey for you. I hear you can still buy places to live in Knoxville where the prices aren't heart-attack inducing.

Face in the crowd

I went to the Somerville car show for the first time this summer, and they had a fairly decent showing. This is the tail fin of a 50s Chevy, I think. Of course, I forgot to remember the exact car model. They just don't make cars like this anymore.
Today was one of those perfect Sundays, and I didn't even have to buy ice cream. Something should be said for sitting by a river soaking up the sun. I was thinking of going up to NY, but I just didn't have the patience to commit to the time on the train. Also, from what I hear, they've started checking bags at the stations and on the subway. Screw that.
Anyway, today felt more like an un-peopled day, anyway. No sense playing in crowds when you don't want to be in one.
After the brief interlude of Harry Potter, I was able to continue with and finish "Being There" by Jerzy Kosinski. It's one of those books that is supposed to Say Something. I think I'll go pick up the movie.
I really liked the book, but I need a few days to distill the thought in my head into something coherent. Here's what I get out of it so far: Our social constructs are based on illusion. Also, rich people are stupid.

This is almost too easy.

I'm not even going to bother trying to come up with anything funny.

Fri Jul 22, 8:35 AM ET - The Associated Press

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - Police are on the lookout for the naked tickler. Investigators said they believe one man could be responsible for a series of bizarre break-ins in which a naked man enters victims' rooms while they are sleeping and tries to tickle their feet.
ADVERTISEMENT

The naked tickler struck again in New Smyrna Beach over the weekend.

Investigators have been working on five similar, unsolved cases since 2001. Most of the victims are women over age 60, said police Cmdr. Wade Kirby.

Kirby said no arrests have yet been made because they don't have a lot to go on.

New Smyrna Beach is 44 miles northeast of Orlando.

How can you not see me?

I have discovered my superpower! It is the power of invisibility. However, it only seems to work when I'm driving. How have I figured this out, you ask? Simple. No one ever seems to see me or my car when I drive, as they always drive out right in front of me when they merge onto roads. This must mean I'm invisible. This can be a dangerous superpower to have, but I promise to use it only for good.

Ouch! Give me my leg back, you fish!

I'm watching this show called Anatomy of a Shark Bite, about sharks and the damage they can cause when they attack. They are recreating a shark bite all the way from the force and power of the jaw to when they attack at speed. They have an example a dude who had his calf torn off by a bull shark, and they are using a fake leg and some sort of shark jaw simulation to demonstrate the damage this shark caused to the guy.
What's worse is they actually have video (really graphic video - yeah I needed to see that) of the dude getting bit on the calf by the shark.
All I got to say is holy uckfay.

judge me not

The news channels are all agog about the President's choice for the Supreme Court. I greet everything this dude does with skepticism, but honestly, I don't know much about the judge. (although I'm sure the liberal and democrat newsletters I signed up for will let me know soon enough, with a glut of annoying emails). The talking heads don't seem to think it's a horrible idea...they say it's a good political move.
It will move the court further to the right, no doubt, so we'll see how this will turn out.

XPN blog

My favorite radio station has a blog! It's All About the Music, you know?

Airstream

I think I want to go on a road trip. However, when I think of the ideal road trip, I can't think how it would fit into the amount of vacation time I have. Or even the weekends. One can only drive so far before one has to turn around and come back.
I would love to be able to drive along the Western coast, all the way from Seattle to L.A.
I'd love to be able to drive to Seattle to take that road trip along the Western Coast.
I'd have a hell of a time trying to fit that trip into two weeks.
My parents have a beautiful, gleaming silver Airstream trailer that's sitting on my brother's driveway, just waiting to be taken on the road. I would love to be able to go somewhere with that thing...

Well, the book's done

I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it was very good. As I was reading the last 100 pages, the roommate and a fellow Mouth of Wilson bandmember were watching a "South Park" DVD in the living room. For those that have read it, an interesting combination, no?
I can not wait for the next one. It's going to be years, I'm sure. Drag.
I just got to say that this book is a perfect set up for the last book in the series.

Movin to the country

Gonna eat a lot of peaches. I went peach picking yesterday! So, naturally, I have more peaches than I know what to do with. Overall, a nice quiet weekend.
I'm about 2/3rds done with Harry Potter so far, and it's great fun! It's not the strongest book in the series, but does that really matter? I've had it not even two days, and I'm almost done. I can't read it fast enough! The series is brilliant, I tell you. Brilliant!

So shines a good deed...

...in a weary world. That was my favorite quote from the original Willy Wonka movie. I think I was 10 or 11 when I first saw it, and I still dig that movie.
I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight, and I liked it very much. I'm not going to try to compare it to the first one, as they are two separate entities (even though time and nostalgia have teamed up to make the first one something special.)
Ok, screw it. I am going to try to make a comparison. I think the first one had a bit more heart. The second had more creativity and originality and imagination. One can't compare Johnny Depp and Gene Wilder, as they both bring something special to the role.
At any rate, I recommend it, as would the whole bunch of people who clapped at the end.
I hope to make this a two-movie weekend, with the next being "The Wedding Crashers."

Name the train what you will

Every now and again, my local PBS channel has some sort of travel show that features train tours. The one that comes to mind is a tour of the Canadian Rockies that ends at Banff Springs.
I can't imagine a classier way to travel than aboard the train. Instead of serving as the function of getting people from one place to another, they have refocused (and remarketed) themselves to actually become part of the destination. I think it's one of the best ways to discover the area that you are visiting. Forget planes...the whole exercise is a drag. Driving cars requires too much attention.
I've taken a few trains to get from Switzerland to Austria, or Austria to Germany, but those were either at night, or I was too young to really enjoy them. Then, I saw them as a means to an end. I'd love to be able to take one of those train tours here in the states or even in canada. I would just love to be able to sit by a window and watch the country go by.

Book geek

People are going all sorts of nuts over the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I think my old bookstore will be getting something like 1600 copies to sell, one of which will be mine when I get my grubby little hands on it this weekend.
Book stores brace for record Harry Potter rush
They are great fun, but I'm still amazed at how much pull these books have. It just doesn't seem imaginable that people get this excited over a book.
I'm currently reading (and hope to finish by the weekend) Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There," the novel on which the movie is based. Quite fun. Check it out.

But you said...

White House Still Silent on Rove Evidence
I get a real kick out of politicians complaining that other politicians aren't keeping their word. And you really expect this administration to keep its word? Come on.
On a completely unrelated note, check out lindsayism. I like her. She's fun.
Something else, found through lindsayism: Filmmakers In Their Own Words: On Making "The Baxter", an essay by Michael Showalter. (The dude that's responsible for The State and Wet Hot American Summer, and much more!)

More Jersey

Silent Bob speaks!

Yeah, team!

Along with great pizza, New Jersey also has the best town in the country, as per Money magazine:
Magazine Names Moorestown, N.J., Best Town
Princeton, right 'round the corner, came in at 15. Not too shabby.
Thanks Simon for the heads up. Just further proof that New Jersey isn't as bad as people thought. (Let's just keep it a bit quiet, as the state's already friggin' crowded, and real estate ain't getting any cheaper. Let others keep their misconceptions.)

Monday, pt. 1

I bought one of those Griffin iTrip things for my iPod, and it makes it really easy to listen it over the radio. I had something before, but it ate batteries like a freak. This thing powers itself through the iPod, which is a benefit.
I got back from my vacation a month or so ago wanting a new sense of responsibility. Now I have it. I got promoted to an assistant manager role in my department. I never really expected management in my future, but it puts a good line on my resume, and gets me a leg up for my next job, when or if I ever choose to leave. I may at one point want to move to Knoxville, but that's a few years off, if I decide to do that at all. I think I need new things to explore.

weird weather

I drove up to the poconos today to visit my parents, and on the way, I drove through a freak storm. As I drove through Washington, I could see the storm clouds were hovering over the hills where I needed to go. The rain started in Oxford and continued as I made the turn on 46 west in Buttzville. It rained as I stopped at Hot Dog Johnny's for a quick bite. I sat with my back to the parking as I ate. When I got up to throw my stuff away, I noticed that it stopped raining, and when I walked to the car, I looked up and saw a blue sky.
The day started very nicely, and has ended as such.

A new(old) car

Both my brother and I are car nuts, and when I've gone up to his place over the weekends, we'd pull out the computer and look at cars on ebaymotors. I came up with the suggestion of buying a car together that we could share, possibly a BMW 2002 or an old 6 series (something under 5 grand. a fun little weekend runabout.) We were really close to bidding on a 1992 BMW 3-series convertible, but decided against it. We saw several other cars that would have been a lot of fun, too.
Then we started looking at MB convertibles from the 80s, my brother's dream car but slightly out of my league. We looked at one that was ok, and then we saw this one.
I'm usually the prudent one, and I'd be the first to rein him back in. I couldn't find one reason. The car is in great shape for an almost 20 year old car. No rust, only 73k miles, beyond clean inside and out, no rips in the seats, drives straight, and drives fast. It's a pure steel two-seat roadster that weighs more than my car.
He got it two weeks ago, but I haven't been able to post about it until now so that we could surpise my parents (who were in europe) with it last night. My sis-in-law was able to keep my parents away from the garage when they arrived yesterday.
They dug it! My dad hates convertibles but he really liked this one. Was very impressed. My brother took our dad on a quick spin, and I took our mom.
Way cool.

Incomplete

I nabbed this from Complete and Total Bisch, who in turn, nabbed it from someone else. It's not that complete cuz I don't have the energy...oh well.
10 years ago... I started work at a summer camp in North Georgia, teaching tennis. I was also a counselor for 7-8 year old kids. Everyone managed to survive just fine. :)

5 years ago... I just started work for an internet advertising company after the dotcom I was working at died a miserable and lonely death. Long story short, I got the job a half hour after I got laid off. Man, I should have run.

1 year ago... I don't think I was doing anything particularly different than today. My parents still lived in the area, and all my family met up here.

Yesterday... Woke up, went to work, went to a bookstore, and then went home.

Today... I have an Excel class today at work. Also, my parents come home this afternoon from Europe, so I'm gonna try to see them.

Tomorrow... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

5 snacks I enjoy... I'm not really a snacker, but: ice cream, tortilla chips with salsa, those little baby carrots, anything within arm's reach...

5 songs I know all the words to... Imagine, Long May You Run, The Times are a-changin. Considering that my memory is crap, that's pretty good.

5 reality television shows I watch... I gave American Idol a go, but apart from that, I'm not a reality TV person

5 television shows I watch daily... Simpsons repeats. The Daily Show. Nothing I really want to watch is on daily.

5 things I would do with $100,000,000... Give a bunch away, buy a home on the lake in switzerland, buy a few cars, build my dream house next to river in Tennessee, get a second cat so that Galileo has someone to hang out with

5 locations I would love to run away to... Can I take that 100 mil? Telluride, Co., Incline Village, NV., Townsend, Tn., Geneva, Switzerland, a beach in Australia

5 things I like doing... Reading; exploring; when I'm driving to nowhere in particular, taking left turns when my intuition tells me to take right turns; writing; going to the movies; anything related to music. That's 6, I know. I don't think the Web police is going to come after me.

5 recently seen movies I like... Batman Begins, Revenge of the Sith, Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy, Kung Fu Hustle

Song in my head

Yesterday, I got this song in my head: "Home by the Sea," by Genesis. I haven't heard that song in ages, and the CD has been collecting dust on the shelf.
However, I just needed to listen to it. Great tune. I remember when I worked at Target when I took a year off between my two "visits" to the University of Florida. I had to be at work at 5am, so I'd be driving along the empty streets of Gainesville, blasting this song.
When I listened to it yesterday, I found that it doesn't quite work as well in the daytime. There's a certain moody quality to it that seems to require darkness and empty roads.
I listened to it late last night on the way home from the latest Mouth of Wilson show. As I came in to my town, the streets were empty and there was a bunch of mist over the roads. Perfect for this song.

All over the map

* The senator who started Earth Day has died. Thank you for the forethought.
* I babysat my brother's kids on Saturday, and I'd like to report that no tears were shed. Not even by me! They were very well behaved, so it wasn't that hard. When I put Grace to sleep, she asked me to read a book. I grabbed to closest, which was a book about Porsches, so I read to her about the 911 Carrera 2 and 4 from the early and mid 90s. Did you think I'd do anything differently?
* Caught some fireworks last night at Rider University. Quite cool!
I just walked out on my little patio, and it's way too nice to be inside.

What did I step in

I just came in from watching the War of the Worlds, and my thoughts are that the acting wasn't bad, the CGI was cool, but the movie as a whole was utter crap.
I should have stuck to my instinct and stayed away. Actually, I wanted to boycot Tom Cruise because of what he's said about psychiatry and insulted Brooke Shields for trying to help her post-partum depression with medicine.
I gave in to the thought that "Oh, it's only a harmless little summer popcorn movie." I should have remembered that although summer popcorn movies are fun, they are usually shiite.
I was able to get over the Tom Cruise thing pretty quickly. He's a great actor, although I don't think he'll ever be able to win any awards given his odd behavior and inability to shut up these last few months. Dakota Fanning was very good...she's the next Kirsten Dunst.
However, the movie. I'm still not quite sure what killed them. Our bacteria? Also, after an electromagentic pulse, all electronics are supposed to be dead. Right after this pulse there's a dude shooting with a digital camcorder. It's that lack of attention to detail that bothers me. And then the ending just kind of popped up...that's what clinched it for me...that pathetic ending.
This is probably the first time on this blog that I'm not recommending a movie.

I hardly knew ye

Rest in peace, brother.
R&B Crooner Luther Vandross Dies at 54

Great scar to show your friends

Now they're just playing with us.
Shark Bites Tourist's Ankle in Florida
He's Austrian, too. (I'm half-Austrian, half-Swiss)